


Mistletoe and EO

by DetectiveEO



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Holidays, Romance, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28163616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveEO/pseuds/DetectiveEO
Summary: 12 EO Christmas one-shot installments
Relationships: Olivia Benson/Elliot Stabler
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Mistletoe and EO

**Author's Note:**

> Mistletoe and EO installment 1 - Believe   
> Olivia asks if Elliot’s kids believe in Santa, she tells him that her mother never really was invested in the holidays so she never got presents from Santa and yet she fell for the foolishness of it all because she wanted to believe in something so badly. Elliot shows her that Christmas magic really does exist. Takes place in season 8.
> 
> Author’s Note: This is my first time using AO3 so please have patience with me while I figure out what I am doing! I am so excited to get back into writing, Elliot is coming home and I am feeling inspired. Happy Holidays to you all. Unfortunately, I don’t own them. This is the first of 12 installments I have planned for the holidays, who knows if I will actually finish them all…   
> PS. Happy Birthday to my love GallifreyGod. This wasn’t intended to be a birthday gift but talk about perfect timing huh?

It was getting late, the snow was starting to fall outside and the streets were beginning to quiet down. Nearly everyone had gone home for the weekend except the pair of detectives who remained at their adjacent desks. Their desk lamps provided enough light for them to see the files they were closing out for the year. The only noise in the squad room was that of the radio playing twenty-four-hour Christmas music and the rusty old room heater by the windows.

They had been staying late recently, the last two to leave for one reason or another. Rumors were starting to flow through the halls speculating what the two of them had been doing after hours, but they were used to the chatter by now. Olivia had worried that the constant silence between them on nights like this meant that maybe they weren't okay; however the more time in the quiet they spent together, the more she realized it was their way of communicating. Neither of them wanted to leave the other one alone and yet neither of them had anything to say.

To say that things between them were complicated was an understatement.

They haven't been on the best of terms lately, arguing over cases, disagreeing about witness statements, and the fact that he was trying to work things out with his family, again. Although she was unsure how he could be working on his home life when he was spending so much time at work with her as opposed to leaving early with everyone else.

She felt his eyes on her then, instead of on the file in front of him. She raised her eyes, glancing at him from under her bangs, hoping, waiting for him to say something that would save her from the silence filling the room and from the voice in her head reminding her of just how different things have been between them since she came back from the west coast.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times as if debating what he was going to say. He must have decided not to say whatever was troubling him because he half smiled at her, a self-deprecating smile, before looking back down at the paper in his hand.

She was disappointed but not surprised that he had changed his mind about speaking, he didn't say much these days but when he did, he was usually arguing with her.

The radio announcer spoke up in between songs announcing their annual toy collection for the Salvation Army and Olivia found herself wondering what Elliot's kids wanted for Christmas this year. She imagined they wanted the newest toys and gadgets. Elliot would complain they are a waste of money since the kids would forget about them within six months. She smiled to herself, picturing him complaining about Mariah Carey's famous rendition of what she wants for Christmas too. He hates that song.

She must have giggled out loud because his inquiring gaze is locked on her. "What's so funny?" Her sudden change of attitude must have caught him off guard, his eyebrows were knit together in feign irritation, but she knew he was grateful for the interruption. It has been months since she remembers feeling this comfortable with him, let alone laughing at all. She lifted her pen to her mouth, chewing on the cap, debating on telling him the truth or some less ridiculous rendition. She looked into the blue of his eyes, hard but slightly amused at her outburst.

"Do your kids still believe in Santa Clause Elliot?" She could tell he was unprepared for her question when he sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. He always softened when talking about his children, but he seemed tense, defensive almost. "Maureen and Kathleen don't. They found out a few years ago when Kathy and I had been fighting, we forgot to get them anything from Santa," he sighed, "I think Dickie and Lizzie know too, but if they do, they keep up the charade for the extra presents. They all still put out the cookies and eggnog though, I told them Santa was on a diet this year because I need to watch my weight."

She chuckled at him for being so body-conscious. The last thing that man needed was to be on a diet; his body was like a brick wall. "You're good with them, you know?" she nodded her head and dropped her eyes to the sticky note on the corner of her desk, reminding her that she needed to pick up eggs at the corner market. "It doesn't feel like it all the time, but I do my best." He shrugged and sighed again, clearly thinking about something she was yet to be clued in on.

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, unsure why she was having this discussion with him. They never did small talk, but maybe small talk was better than not talking at all. "My mother never took me to see Santa Clause; she never bothered giving me presents from him either. I had spent my entire childhood thinking that I was on the naughty list because I never got what I wanted for Christmas. Yet somehow, every year, I would write him a letter telling him that I knew he was real and that the kids at school who said their parents were Santa were just jealous that they didn't have flying reindeer." She laughed at the memory, "I would take that letter to the post office all by myself and tell them to send it to the North Pole. One year my mother saw what I had written in my letter, she ripped it up, laughing in my face. She told me I was foolish for still believing in childish things. She was drunk, of course, but that was the moment I stopped believing in magic."

Olivia cleared her throat, full of emotion, having not shared that story with anyone before. She lifted her glossy eyes to his and was surprised to see that he was giving her his full attention for the first time in weeks. "We still had fun around the holidays together. My mother wasn't always miserable to be around, just when she was drunk. I never put eggnog out for that reason. I wanted to believe in something so badly that I clung to the idea of some fat man in a red suit bringing children what they wanted that year. I know how pathetic and naive it sounds, Huang could over-analyze this if I let him." She joked, trying to lighten the mood again.

"What did you want for Christmas, Liv?" His voice was low and rumbly when he spoke, his voice sending shivers down her spine. She paused, trying to contain her emotions before she spoke. She was worried that her voice would crack. "I wanted my mother to be sober." Her voice was no louder than a whisper, she isn't sure that he heard her over the radio, but she knows he did when he scrubs his hand over his face. "Come on, it's late, I'll give you a ride home." He winked at her when he stood out of his chair, grabbing his jacket and heading towards the elevator.

The next morning was chilly, it had snowed all night, the roads had been icy on her way into work. She took her gloves off as she stepped out of the elevator, rounding the corner with her styrofoam mug in hand. Taking off her red scarf, and placing the cup on her desk, filled with tea this year instead of coffee, she noticed a small box sitting on the same corner where the sticky note had been the night before. The package is not so neatly wrapped with a ribbon bow on the top.

She reached for the present with frozen fingers and pulled apart the paper. A hand-scribbled note rested inside that read 'Merry Christmas Liv.' Sitting just underneath was a beautiful Movado watch with a blue dial and cognac leather strap. She turned it over in her hands and gasped when she saw the engraving on the back of the watch, 'Partners for life'.

Her phone rang, pulling her out of a trance. Her hands were shaking for reasons other than the cold as she reached for the handset.

"Benson." The voice on the other line was deep and scratchy like he had just woken involuntarily, "Merry Christmas, Olivia. Did you open your present?" She smiled slightly, shaking her head and running the leather through her fingertips. "Elliot, I can't accept this, it looks expensive." He laughed through the phone, "I want you to have it besides, who said it's from me?" She could hear the mischief in his voice, as if he was a child, "What do you mean?" "Maybe it's from Santa." Rolling her eyes, she placed the phone in between her ear and shoulder, strapping the watch onto her left wrist. "I love it Elliot, thank you. Did the kids wake you up?" "Yes, they are downstairs ripping open their presents as we speak."

She paused for a moment, unsure how to tell him that this present means more to her than he will ever know, but their friendship, or whatever it was that they have, is what she is the most grateful for.

Her voice, laced with emotions that betrayed her when she spoke, but the words came out anyway, "Go be with your family El. The watch is stunning. Thank you." She sensed his hesitation, guilt maybe, "Merry Christmas Liv." Tears sprang into her eyes instantly. She swallowed hard, "Merry Christmas El."

She placed the phone back into the ringer as a single tear fell down her cheek. Regret, she thought, was a hard thing to live with. He had given her something beautiful, and she had walked out of his life. He has forgiven her, she reassures herself, which is the best gift of all.

They are going to be okay.

She raises her wrist and quickly adjusts the time to reflect the one on the computer monitor. "Merry Christmas Elliot," she says to no one in particular. She lifts her cup to her lips and dives into her paperwork once again.


End file.
